Red-Barracuda
The 80's was Italian director Lamberto Bava's decade. Throughout those years he knocked out a series of entertaining horror movies and was one of Italy's best in that period. Macabre was his directorial debut. And it's a pretty well-handled film overall. While it is quite over-the-top, it is much less so than most of Bava's subsequent outings. This one even qualifies as a psychological thriller as well as horror. It tells the tale of a disturbed woman who moves into a boarding house, it seems she has a dark secret though.Similar to a few early 80's horror films from his contemporary Lucio Fulci, this one is set in America; New Orleans to be precise. In truth, the setting could be absolutely anywhere are this is a claustrophobic tale that is set almost exclusively within the confines of a large old house. Presumably the U.S. location was used as a means of passing this off as an American product which was seen as an easier sell commercially. Whatever the case, this is a pretty good effort from Bava and takes a decidedly different route than most of his Italian peers. It's let down a little by some flaky dialogue and acting but this is really par for the course with these flicks to be honest and doesn't really get that much in the way.Despite hardly being exactly subtle, it does rely on atmosphere and suspense more than visceral thrills. The idea of the blind landlord trying to figure out just what exactly is happening in his new tenant's room works well in that the film relies on sounds to convey strange goings on. It takes a while until the big reveal actually happens but I am guessing not many people will be at all surprised. But that doesn't detract from the basic macabre idea being a good one. While it was also interesting that the little girl was also psychotic; killer kids are always a winner. Finally, it has to be said that the ending reminded me of the one in the Spanish slasher Pieces in that it was meaningless, completely unnecessary, ridiculous and kind of funny.
udar55
I saw this as a kid and decided to revisit it as an adult. I'll say it definitely has more impact one me as an adult because I've lived through the mess of a girlfriend having an ex-boyfriend's head in the freezer. Uh, I mean, I am more mature and can understand the psychology of the film better. I barely remembered most of it with the car crash having the most impact on my brain cells. It still packs a wallop and Zinny is indeed one of the creepiest kids to grace Italian cinema from that era. The shot of her half smiling, half grimacing during the dinner scene is really good. What really stood out for me this time was, as Mark mentioned, Stanko Molnar's performance. He is really, really good in this. I also love the trumpet customer who knows no bounds when it comes to inappropriate talk. Like Neil Jordan's THE CRYING GAME, this takes on a completely different tone when you know the film's secret. I got a good laugh when Molnar comes to invite Stegers to dinner and she says, "Uh, I'm busy tonight."
Polaris_DiB
Mario Bava's son Lamberto Bava takes the reins of directing to mostly successful effect. In this tension-building horror, a woman leaves her children behind to meet with her lover, only to end the day with her son and lover dead. A year of institutionalism later, she returns to the set of her affair in the house of the blind man Robert, and creepy things begin happening... to Robert, it seems like a visitor is coming and having a sexual affair with the woman in the night, but nobody's entering the house. Is she possessed? Is it a ghost? Or is she herself pulling her old forays right out of the grave to continue them as if nothing ever happened? Macabre is interesting because it actually lives up to expectations in unexpected ways. Basically, Bava the Younger shows off strength in the way he paces his reveals. He gives the viewer just enough time to guess what is behind the door, in the freezer, or up the stairs, and then actually shows it as if it's already revealed. By the time you actually see what's going on, you no longer want it to be the case; it's terrible to be so right all the time. In the meantime, the relationships developed among Robert, the woman, and the woman's daughter provide more than enough dramatic tension to earn the sensationalistic thrills.So overall the movie is a decent, dark little idiosyncratic horror movie. There are some massive plot holes ("We visit his grave every year" -- interesting habit to have when he hasn't even been dead an entire year yet), some less-well-paced scenes ("This room needs a woman's touch"), and a dishearteningly dumb twist for its final shot ("Robert Duval's death remains a mystery"). But a horror movie seen from the perspective of a blind man, a crazy woman, and her proto-psychopathic daughter is well worth at least a first viewing for horror buffs.--PolarisDiB
lost-in-limbo
New Orleans wife Jane Baker is secretly having a steamy affair, when one day she receives news of a terrible accident of one of her children. In the rush to get the hospital, her lover crashes the car and is decapitated. After spending time in a mental institution, she returns the boarding house to stay, which were she would meet her lover. The blind landlord Robert Duval holds a crush on her, but her affections are for someone else and when he hears her calling out her former lovers name every night. He knows something is not quite right. After the disappointment that was "A Blade in the Dark", I got around to watching Lamberto Bava's low-cost debut film "Macabre" and I was extremely entrenched by this sedate, tightly constructed Gothic horror oddity. The morbid premise is atypically straightforward, therefore predictable, but on the other hand strangely fascinating as the mood and atmosphere sweeps you up then trying for anything graphic and blaring with punch. Lamberto's stylish trimmings notably display an edgy, conniving sense of simmering tension amongst the chamber piece structure. Ubaldo Continiello's smoothly tailored jazz score of sorrow melts well with Franco Delli Colli's aesthetic handling of the agile photography. The editing gets the right feel. Writers Pupi Avati, Lamberto Bava, Antonio Avati and Roberto Gandus' twisted material dabbles successfully into the psychological obsession and passion of love (or maybe the perversely forbidden sexual fulfilment) and the increasing frustration for attention. Boy it's demented, and unusual. Just wait for the crackpot ending! The clear-cut script works well with its foreseeable, bleak mystery to keep you infatuated, by setting up a likable intimate protagonist Robert and rally up anxiety ridden situations. Bernice Stegers's performance of Jane smokes it up with an ever-growing desire and very assured impact. Stanko Molnar doesn't lose ground either, with his stupendous portrayal of Robert. Veronica Zinny potently gets on your nerves with a creepy turn as Jane's daughter Lucy.
AD
